CORONA, California (April 23, 2017) - After a very exciting season opener here yesterday at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, presented by GEICO, returned to action for Round 2 of the 2017 championship out under the Arizona sun here this afternoon. It was again a warm one today, but the local Phoenix area fans got to see another great day of racing action, with plenty of exciting highlights to tell their friends and coworkers about tomorrow. In case you missed it, here are some highlights from the events of the day.

Pro 4 Unlimited

In the four wheel drive ranks, Carl Renezeder again led at the end of lap one, as he did yesterday, in the #17 Lucas Oil Products/RC10.com Ford, ahead of Bryce Menzies, Greg Adler, Eric Barron, and Doug Fortin. On lap two, contact, between Menzies and Adler in turn two resulted in a slow-up for the drivers directly behind them, which caused Barron to drop to eighth, and moved Fortin and Rob MacCachren up to fourth and fifth. Fortin then got by Adler coming out of turn four on lap five, and pulled ahead and into third spot in turn one on the next lap. The race was running very fast and very clean through the first half, until lap nine, when Fortin slowed briefly in turn one and dropped to sixth by turn two, with Adler, MacCachren, and Doug Mittag all getting past Fortin and up to positions three, four, and five. Adler ducked into the Hot Pits to change a flat left front tire under the Competition Yellow, which came out at the end of the lap, but was unable to get back out on the lead lap, and this helped move MacCachren up to third, Mittag to fourth, and Fortin to fifth. After the restart, Fortin was again slow out of turn one, and he pulled off and into the Hot Pits for a short time, handing fifth to Barron. Around this same time, Adler, who was a lap down, managed to roll in turn three in two successive laps, and both times, he managed to land on his wheels and continue, and while his truck was pretty banged up, he did manage to cross the finish line. Up front, Renezeder and Menzies were in a league of their own, but as the race closed down, Renezeder even managed to start pulling away from Menzies, opening up a gap of 2.24 seconds by the race’s end. At the checkers, Renezeder took a Round 2 win in Pro 4 Unlimited for the second straight year, ahead of Menzies in the #7 Red Bull/BFGoodrich Tires Ford, MacCachren in the #21 Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita Ford, Mittag in the #81 Maxxis Tires/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Ford, and Barron fifth in the #32 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Mickey Thompson Toyota.

Pro 2 Unlimited

The final race of the weekend was Pro 2 Unlimited, and after a pretty rough go so far this weekend, RJ Anderson finally got some good luck, and led the way after lap one in his #37 Polaris RZR/Rockstar Energy Drink truck. Rob MacCachren ran second in the #21 Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita Ford, with Bryce Menzies third in the #7 Red Bull/Focus Quality Ford, Jerett Brooks fourth in the #77 General Tire/Bilstein Shock Absorbers Ford, and Jeremy McGrath fifth in the #2 Maxxis Tires/Icon Vehicle Dynamics truck. By lap three, McGrath was right on Brooks’ back bumper, and continued to hound the young driver over the following lap in a bid to move up to fourth. On lap five, McGrath made the pass, slipping by nicely on the inside at turn three in much the same style as Brooks had done on some drivers the day before. Up front, Anderson and MacCachren were in a different class, and were still pretty close in the race for the lead by the time the Competition Yellow waved at the end of lap nine. After racing resumed, MacCachren began to pile on the pressure, and was all over Anderson on laps 12, 13, and 14. The top four drivers began to close up as the two frontrunners battled each other, but on lap 16, MacCachren got by Anderson at turn one, before opening up a gap on the former leader on lap 17. Anderson then bobbled in turn three on that lap, which allowed Menzies to get by for second, and with Anderson now flinging huge chunks of tread from his right rear tire, he was looking like easy pickings for McGrath as well. Up front, MacCachren swept home to the win, ahead of Menzies in second, and Anderson rounded out the podium in third, managing to keep McGrath at bay over the final lap; McGrath finished up in fourth, and Brooks finished in fifth.

Pro Lite Unlimited

It was an absolutely crazy race in Pro Lite Unlimited, with no fewer than six full course cautions wreaking havoc on the field and bringing up myriad opportunities for incidents to occur. Class rookie Hailie Deegan had the lead in her #38 Monster Energy/4 Wheel Parts Toyota after lap one, with Ryan Beat, Christopher Polvoorde, Brock Heger, and Ronnie Anderson in tow. Heger had a big bicycle in turn two on the second lap, which dropped him to sixth as both Anderson and Jerett Brooks got past. On lap five, a rollover by Cory Winner in turn two forced the first full course caution, and on the restart lap, Anderson got by Polvoorde into turn two, and after contact between Polvoorde, Brooks, and Heger in that same corner, it was now Deegan, Beat, Anderson, Heger, and Polvoorde in the top five. Brooks got by Polvoorde in turn two on the next lap, with Anderson then spinning out in turn four and dropping well down the order. Lap seven saw the second full course caution fly after Sarah Burgess quickly pulled off the track and jumped out of her truck following a flash of fire. Under yellow, Heger ducked into the Hot Pits, and thanks to a lengthy yellow, he managed to come back out on the lead lap, albeit at the back of the pack. On the restart lap, major rollovers for both Brandon Arthur and Cole Mamer going into turn two brought the full course yellow right back out. Mamer looked to have lost control off of the last jump before the corner, and as he started to spin off to the right, Arthur jinked right to avoid contact, and both drivers dug in and wound up rolling hard, with Arthur taking the worst of it with four and a half trips over, before he came to a stop outside of the track. Both drivers were okay, fortunately, and the race resumed with Deegan, Beat, Brooks, Polvoorde, and Ray Griffith in the top five.

On the restart lap, Beat got spun in turn two and came to a stop in the corner, forcing another full course caution, and in the melee that was the whole field trying to avoid hitting Beat, Polvoorde dropped several spots back and out of the top five. On the restart lap, Deegan ran wide in turn two, allowing Brooks to get past and into the lead in his #77 Rigid Industries LED Lighting/General Tire Nissan, and with an awesome charge back through the field, Heger now sat third, ahead of Gavin Harlien and Griffith in fourth and fifth. A rollover in turn three by Polvoorde then forced the fifth full course yellow at the end of lap 10, and on the restart lap, Anderson got by Griffith coming out of turn four to get back into the top five. Griffith tried very hard to get back by on the next lap, but to no avail, while up front, Brooks was starting to pull away. On the penultimate lap, a rollover by Anderson in turn two brought out the final full course yellow, and with just one lap of green flag racing remaining, this finale was looking like it would be very exciting. And indeed it was, as in turn three, Brooks bicycled badly, and as Deegan tried to move down the inside for a pass, Heger was already there, even further inside, and he shot by both of them to go from third to first in one corner. Heger sped away and claimed an unexpected win, doubling up for the weekend in his #12 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Maxxis Tires Toyota. Deegan also got by Brooks to claim second, with Brooks rounding out the podium in third, Harlien fourth in the #55 Speed Energy/Mickey Thompson Ford, and Griffith fifth in the #53 Gear 49 Motorsports Nutrition/General Tire Ford.

Pro Buggy Unlimited

In Pro Buggy Unlimited, yesterday’s winner Eliott Watson was again off to a flying start here this afternoon, taking the early lead in his #3 Fox Racing Shox/Baja Designs Alumi Craft. Defending champion Darren Hardesty Jr. ran second in the #99 Bilstein Shock Absorbers/Impact Alumi Craft, with Bud Ward third, Sterling Cling fourth, and Kyle Aarup fifth. These five held their positions all the way to the Competition Yellow, which fell one lap early on lap seven, and they continued to hold these spots through laps eight and nine. Lap ten then saw Ryan Anderson suffer a rollover after some help from Trevor Briska coming out of turn one; Anderson was alright, and Briska earned a black flag for his part in the incident. On the restart lap, Broc Dickerson made quick work of Aarup by moving up to fifth, and despite some serious smoke from Aarup’s engine, which continued to disintegrate as the laps wound down, Aarup did his best to try and hang with Dickerson and make a pass back for position. However, Aarup’s engine just couldn’t hold on, and after some major flames came whipping out the back of Aarup’s car over the first half of the final lap, Aarup finally threw in the towel at turn three, less than half a lap shy of the finish line. Up front, Watson got the win and the sweep of the weekend, ahead of Hardesty Jr., Ward in the #17 Ramona Tire/BFGoodrich Tires Funco, Cling in the #77 Cling’s Aerospace/Kyle Green Fabrication Alumi Craft, and Dickerson in the #23 BFGoodrich Tires/Racer Services Alumi Craft.

Production 1000 UTV

The final race before Opening Ceremonies was Production 1000 UTV, and in this one, Paul O’Brien got the better of fellow front row starter Brandon Arthur on the first lap, leading the way in his #911 Specialty Coatings Inc./Cylex Signs Yamaha, ahead of Brock Heger, Arthur, Ronnie Anderson, and Myles Cheek. Cheek got past Anderson after a lengthy pass from turn four on lap two to turn one on lap three, moving himself up to fourth in the process. Anderson got back past Cheek at turn two on lap three to re-take fourth, before the two then collected in turn one after Cheek drove up on the left rear corner of Anderson’s car. As Anderson then pulled away, Cheek did an almost stationary roll onto his left side, bringing out a full course caution. Cheek was righted under yellow and was able to continue from the back of the pack, but it was now Keith Brooks who sat in fifth for the restart. On the restart lap, Arthur got by Heger going into turn three to move up to second in his #906 Toyo Tires/Benchmark Performance Yamaha. Two laps later, contact between Dustin Nelson and Jason Weller resulted in Nelson getting spun and stopped in the middle of the track just out of turn one, which forced another full course yellow. On the restart lap, Arthur got by O’Brien to move into the lead. Shortly afterwards, major smoke was coming from the engine bay onboard the #999 of Jeff Obering , which forced a full course yellow as he rolled to a stop just out of turn one. After the restart, the top five drivers held their positions through to the end of the race, and at the stripe, it was Arthur who took the win and the sweep of the weekend. O’Brien was something of a dark horse surprise in second, with Heger finishing third in the #921 Icon Vehicle Dynamics/Maxxis Tires Yamaha, Anderson fourth in the #952 Safecraft Safety Equipment/Walker Evans Racing Polaris, and Brooks fifth in the #942 Chaparral Motorsports/Kar Tek Off Road Yamaha.

Modified Kart

In the always exciting Modified Karts, yesterday’s winner Brody Eggleston had the lead at the end of lap one in his #514 Above All Construction Inc./Full Tilt Tires kart, ahead of Madix Bailey, Connor Barry, Cole Keatts, and Mia Chapman. A rollover by Bailey in turn two (possibly with a little help from Barry) on lap two brought out a full course yellow, and with Bailey at least able to continue at the tail end of the lead lap, it was now Eggleston, Keatts, Barry, Chapman, and Trey Gibbs in the #515 Kicker/Temecula Motorsports entry in the top five for the restart. Gibbs then made a very nice inside pass on Chapman at turn three to move up to fourth on the restart lap, and with Chapman then running wide out of the corner, Chris Nunes was also able to pass her and move up to fifth in the #502 California Kid/Trophy Kart truck. Up front, Keatts was right on Eggleston at the end of lap three, and things then tightened up even more just afterwards, as the entire rear axle came out from under Jaden Uribe’s kart, forcing a full course yellow. After a lengthy yellow flag period, Nunes was perhaps a little too anxious to get by Gibbs for fourth on the restart lap, as he made some strong side to side contact with Gibbs into and through turn three, before the two then hooked together briefly going into turn four, which caused both drivers to slow and lose several spots. Chapman and Chance Haugen moved up to inherit those fourth and fifth places, but when Haugen then ran too wide at turn two on lap six, Nunes got by easily on the inside to move up to fifth. Three laps later, Keatts got by Eggleston and into the lead in his #553 Mod Kids USA/Xtreme Machine & Fabrication machine, before a rollover by Luke Knupp on lap ten led to a full course caution. Knupp was righted and was able to continue, but a botched restart by the field forced officials to call the drivers back and make them do it again. On that second attempt, Chapman got by Barry in turn three to move up to third, with Nunes then passing Barry in turn four to grab fourth spot. Nunes then ran wide out of turn three on the next lap and dropped two spots to sixth, with Barry and Gibbs going by and up to fourth and fifth. On the final lap, Chapman biked badly in turned two, did a half spin, and then came to a stop and was unable to re-fire as the field streaked by. One corner later, and Nunes then passed Gibbs to get into fourth. At the checkered flag, it was Keatts who got his first Modified Kart class win in the National Series- congratulations Cole! Second went to Eggleston, and with he and Keatts having swapped spots from yesterday’s results, things are shaping up for a good battle all season long between these two. Third was Barry in the #529 CBR Performance Products/Slickey Films kart, fourth was Nunes, and fifth was Gibbs.

Junior 1 Kart

In the class for our youngest drivers, a multi-kart collision on the opening lap forced a full restart of the race, and after the second go around, it was Jake Bollman leading the way in the #271 Kar Tek Off Road/Signpros Custom Lettering kart, ahead of Tyli Olsen, yesterday’s winner Brayden Fischer, Brooke Perfect, and Rhyan Denney. On lap three, Perfect got by Fischer on the inside at turn four to take over third spot, as she and the other drivers in the top four continued to run very close to one another. On lap five, Perfect then got down to the inside at turn four and slowed briefly, which allowed both Fischer and Denney to get by for third and fourth. After a lap of re-racking and re-stacking under the Competition Yellow, the field completely botched the restart, with several drivers jumping the start before the green flag had waved. However, the start was allowed to stand, and at the end of the restart lap, it was still Bollman in the lead, but Denney now ran second, with Fischer third, Gus Hamblin fourth, and Irie Bailey fifth. Hamblin and Bailey collided at turn one and dropped to the back of the pack near the end of the race, but a full course caution, which came out after a collision between Olsen and Broedy Graham over in turn four, allowed Hamblin and Bailey to get their fourth and fifth spots back for the restart (albeit after a lengthy yellow flag period to get the running order sorted out). The final lap was fairly uneventful, and at the checkers, it was Bollman who got the win, ahead of Denney in the #246 XII West Brewing Co./Burro Enterprises kart, Fischer in the #261 Super Sick/Hoosier machine, Hamblin in the #200 Foddrill Motorsports/Rugged Radios truck, and Bailey in the #210 MavTV/LAMB Energy entry.

Junior 2 Kart

Kicking off the action this afternoon were the Junior 2 Karts, and front row starters Ethan Ebert and Megan Mitchell ran one-two after the opening lap, with Holden Heitritter, Lane McDonald, and Maddie Dye rounding out the initial top five. These five held their positions over the opening three laps, with Ebert and Mitchell then starting to pull just a small gap over the rest of the field on lap four. As they did so, Ebert himself then edged out an extra bit of breathing room over Mitchell going into lap five. Just behind, Heitritter made a mistake and slowed a little too early as the yellow flag for the Competition Yellow came out, and McDonald shot past him before the start/finish line to move up to third. On the restart, Niko Lopez got past Dye for fifth, with the top six drivers then gradually moving clear of the field in the following laps. On lap nine, McDonald was really looking hard for a spot to get past Mitchell, but she managed to hold him at bay. The running order amongst the top five drivers saw no further changes before the checkered flag, and at the finish, it was the #477 Walker Evans Racing/SDHQ Off Road Racing kart of Ebert who got the win, ahead of Mitchell in the #442 Jersey Mike’s Subs/Off-Road Vixens entry, McDonald in the #451 Ultra Xtreme Race Wheels/Walker Evans Racing truck, Heitritter in the #412 Innovative Document Solutions/Eversen Performance machine, and Lopez in the #423 Custom Rim & Tire/Whip Tech Factory kart.

With that, our opening weekend of competition has come to a close, and we now turn our attention to the next weekend of racing, which will take our drivers and teams south of the border to the lovely seaside city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The Estero Beach Resort will host Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2017 championship, with drivers facing one of the fastest, most challenging, and most popular tracks on the circuit. Join us in four weeks’ time, May 20 and 21, and enjoy the unique treat of watching these titans of off-road battle it out right on the beach- it doesn’t get much better than this!

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is the evolution of the long-standing support of short course racing by Forrest Lucas and Lucas Oil Products. Steeped in the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing infused with a West Coast influence, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing brings intense four wheel door-to-door action to challenging, fan-friendly tracks. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series: This is Short Course. For more information, please visit www.LucasOilOffRoad.com.